Ventus stared down at his hand as it shook. The imagery of the nightmare was still fresh in his mind: wings that expanded fifteen feet on either side of a thin, sickly body: claws that were three times the size of his own, as well as the feet: the glistening points of the sharply fanged teeth. But the most prominent part of the creature were the deep set, orange eyes that had seemed to stare straight into the pit of his soul. Everything about it was sharply angled, as if there was a pattern to their bodily figure. The kicker? It wasn't his nightmare. It was one he had taken from one of the attendees at the Academy.
It was something he didn't tell his brother, nor did he ever plan on telling him. Taking nightmares from the students had started as a way to ease his conscious, a possible way to help redeem himself of the mistake he had made with his mother. Nowadays, it was second nature to do it. It was his power. And sometimes, the place seemed a little better on certain days. But the cost of those nightmares always haunted him, as if they had manifested for him instead of the other person. But the malevolent creatures he had found reoccurring in a couple of the students lately were new
Aside from the one he had just witnessed, the one previously was brighter, mistakenly as a kinder entity. The body was nearly white or beige, accompanied by faint pastel shades. The angles and tips of the wings and claws were more rounded, and the eyes were a faded gray or white - almost as if the creature had been blinded. The one before that didn't have nearly as distinctive features, but the eyes had glowed a deep red.
In total, Ventus had now come across three different variations of these creatures. Why they randomly showed up in students' nightmares, he had no idea. But something shook him to his core about it, as if they were connected somehow.
"Your soul may be black from the countless nightmares you've whisked away from people, but your heart is a beacon of light."
Vanitas words reached him once again. Ever since the demon had spoken them, he had began to wonder how much truth it actually held. Did he take the nightmares because he wanted to, or because he felt it was his duty? Did he consume the darkness within himself? Or was it some metaphor for his character, or power, to get his point across? Several questions lined up in his head every time, but he never had any answers for them. They fringed on the skirts of selfless or selfish, yet he didn't know which way it tipped more.
He let out a sigh as he slid from his bed. He had to distract his mind. With the swirling repetition of darkness and doom recently, Ven felt as if he was drowning in a never ending nightmare of his own. He settled on a visit to the forest, somewhere open and refreshing. Once showered and dressed, a quick decision of a yellow ombré shirt and gray cargo shorts, he headed out of his dorm.
Minutes later, with his mind still tailed by the looming thoughts, he found himself cresting the hill toward the forest. As soon as he passed under the branches of the first tree, however, he felt everything melt away. The smell of dirt, grass and pure nature invaded his senses. It grounded him with memories of himself and Roxas playing with wild abandon in the forest surrounding their house when they were children. He only wished they would have been able to enjoy those moments longer.
As Ven passed by a low reaching branch, he plucked a small twig off and twirled it between his fingers. Another memory came to him, when they were ten, from before their powers had become known. He would watch as Roxas carefully took the leaves off of a small twig and, after kneeling down on the face of a large rock or boulder, meticulously use the sharpest end of the twig to slowly create a dot design along the length of them. It was always a different design, something that amazed the older twin to no end. Even though Ventus was the more thorough thinker of the two, Roxas had more patience when it came to majority of things in life.
It's never too late to learn... he thought as he stopped and took a seat next to one of the trees.
His eyes glanced around until he spotted a mostly flat rock; it wasn't huge like Roxas had been comfortable with, but it was large enough to fulfill the purpose he needed it for. Plucking a single leaf off of the twig by the stem and holding it flat on the rock, he began the slow process as he pressed the sharpest end of the stick down in random spots along the veins. Ven felt proud of himself when he had gotten through seven dots, but when he went to shift the leaf slightly, his fingers moved too far apart and tore a jagged path from the margin to the midrib.
Ventus let out a long breath as he straightened back against the trunk and closed his eyes. Even after all these years, he still didn't have the finesse to complete one design.
"If it isn't my favorite cynic."
He snapped his eyes open and looked around, searching for the owner of the familiar voice.
"Favorite? We aren't even classified as friends," he replied, fingers gripping the twig tightly as he got to his feet. He took a few steps forward to further his view between the trees, but Ven was yet to see a body. "And I'm not cynical."
"If that's what you believe. But, come on. I'd say we bonded that night. Our little secret, remember?"
Leaves rustled behind Ven and, as he spun back around to the tree he had been sitting at, his eyes landed on Vanitas. He was suspended upside down in the air, his legs hooked and crossed effortlessly over one of the branches. His sudden appearance wasn't what alerted him, however, but the fact that he looked like himself.
"Are you crazy? Someone could see you!" Ventus replied vehemently, chucking the twig at the demon. Vanitas caught it easily and, as always, grinned at the blonde.
"Maybe a bit crazy. Glad to know you care emotionally regardless of what you say," he cooed. As he grabbed the branch with a hand, Vanitas unhooked his legs and landed on the ground smoothly.
"Hardly..." the blonde muttered. "What if it wasn't me, but my brother?"
"Oh, give me credit for at least recognizing you from your brother. That dragon wouldn't be far behind him. It's like waving a giant red flag. Ventus scowled at him, but he had a point.
There he was, looking for a moment's respite from everything, and he was still bothered by someone. He had to remind himself that it wasn't bad that Vanitas was there; he had to try and get something out of the demon when given the chance. Who knew how much time they really had?
"What are you doing out here, anyway? I would've thought you'd be enjoying yourself, pretending to be Sora, and making a fool of people," he questioned. He had no doubts that the demon had something planned now that they were back at the Academy, but he expected it to be around people. Not in the quiet seclusion of the forest.
"Just enjoying the scenery," responded Vanitas. His eyes studied Ventus for a moment before he raised an eyebrow. "You think I just wanna torture people, don't you? Just because Sora seemed disturbed doesn't mean I purposely made him feel insane. I haven't been around people in, I don't know, nearly a thousand years or something. Give or take. Not counting Sora - who I've been stuck with for just over three hundred years, by the way - my people skills are rusty."
"That's not...what..." Ventus swallowed his words. A thousand? Three hundred years?! "He's had to put with you for that long?"
"Hey. I'm really, honestly, a charming person deep down. That's only equivalent to a third of your life, by the way. Let's not get carried away."
Vanitas was spewing out information, but the blonde wasn't really sure it was the kind that they needed; even Sora had to be knowledgeable about the time span. He had to find a way to get the demon to open up, but a thousand years living the life of presumably pure evil, the task seemed daunting.
"You ready to let me inside that intriguing mind of yours yet?" The sly tone made the blond furrow his brows further, taking a step back as he noticed the demon had been advancing toward him.
"Not a chance." Although his answer was short, the list of questions appearing his mind grew longer. Ven found himself planted firmly in place as he spoke his next question. "Why are you like this?"
"Like what?" The look Vanitas had on his face faltered for a fraction of a second, almost quick enough to miss. But the blonde, who was intent and focused, caught the slight change before the black eyebrow had quirked and the smirk reappeared.
"You act like you don't care about anything at all, but you're looking for a way out. I thought demons followed through if they made a pact." Golden eyes narrowed on him as the smirk fell completely that time. It was the first he could recall that Vanitas looked serious.
"How would you know that I'm even a demon?" Ventus felt his heart stutter, but he his mind worked quickly for a recovery.
"Sora told me the whole story and how you guys ended up here. Or did that get locked up, too?" he shot back, playing on the first night they had talked. Vanitas had mentioned a part of Sora's mind he couldn't reach. If there was any hope of avoiding a slip up, this was his only card. When the corner of the demon's mouth quirked up, Ven felt himself relax a little.
"That's right. I guess since it's never came up before, it sort of slipped my mind. Freedom is a luxury, in my case," he murmured. Vanitas was only a step away at that point, but the nightmare walker was too focused to remember to keep his distance. "Being stuck inside cage after cage, you tend to forget what conversations actually happened, which ones you had with yourself and which ones played on a screen of memories."
"So, why are you looking for a way out? Demons aren't known for acts of kindness, so why even offer to help Sora in the first place?" Ventus asked, lowering his voice as he processed every bit of information. In the midst of it, he found himself not only asking to further a solution, but because he wanted - needed - to know more about Vanitas.
"That's a secret. But, secrets have a price," he muttered, his voice equally low. The blonde's breath hitched in his throat at the familiar words, at Vanitas' fingers as they feathered across his chin, just like before. Molten eyes peered unflinchingly into his. "People have a price, too. All you have to do is decide what your price is."
A hand sped toward the demon as soon as the words hit the air. It was easily caught with the hand that left his chin, but Ventus had counted on it. The blonde dropped his weight quickly as the fingers held tightly onto his arm, causing the demon to move his legs apart in an attempt to hold his balance. It gave Ventus the opportunity to slide between them. Before he could pull Vanitas after him to get him on his back, however, the pressure left his arm. He lifted his eyes quickly as he regained his footing, lifting an arm to deflect a blow heading his way. Several more followed, each hit bouncing off of his forearms until he found his back against a tree.
An excited grin had spread across the demon's face at the sudden action, even more so when Ventus had dodged the next attack and managed to find a branch. It was no thicker than his wrist, reaching just past his elbow as the blonde held it on the outside of his forearm.
"Ah, so the enigmatic older twin shows he knows some swordplay. That's interesting," said Vanitas curiously.
It was another thing that the twins didn't talk about. As humans, they needed some sort of self defense. So when they had started attending the Academy, they had sought out a teacher who excelled at sword combat. Unfortunately, for the last year, said teacher had been sent on some sort of errand and had yet to return. It had been a while since Ventus and Roxas had practiced. Maybe it was what the older twin had wanted this whole time since he'd entered the forest. A sort of satisfaction clicked into place at the thought.
Ven didn't give the demon the gratification of an answer, nor a chance to find his own makeshift weapon. He lunged forward, drawing his arm back to strike. But Vanitas evaded him easily on light footed movements. The sound of wood snapping was the only signal that alerted the blonde that they were now on equal terms. The two delivered, blocked and dodged blows with each other in the depth of the forest, as if they had choreographed their movements. Ven felt the excitement bubble in his chest; instead of fearing the demon, he was having fun during their mock battle.
Vanitas escaped the blonde's next blow as he pulled himself on a branch, but when Ven looked up to see the oncoming strike from above, he felt a wild grin spread on his face. This was going to be the last attack the demon would get. As their branches connected, Ventus jerked his arms to the side to disconnect the attack and throw him off balance.
What he didn't expect was Vanitas to pivot on one foot and swing the other out. The offensive measure pulled his feet from underneath him and he landed on his back, pulling the air from his lungs. His mind flipped into a defensive mentality and, as he assumed Vanitas would attempt a final strike, lifted his branch as quickly as possible to deflect it. But it wasn't a branch that came barreling down toward him.
A clawed hand broke through the branch, grazed his cheek, and landed on the ground next to his head. The wild beating of his heart outpaced the quick frantic breaths that came out of his mouth. Even though his mind and body were screaming at him to move, that it was dangerous, his azure eyes never left the steadfast gilded ones above him.
Ventus' eyes widened when he felt a finger brush against his cheekbone, barely noticing the inky black fading back into a normal skin tone as Vanitas stood and inspected the smear of blood. The look on the demon's face stirred something in Ven, but this time it wasn't hesitation. Pity? A sliver of camaraderie? He wasn't sure what it was.
"I was human, once. Not that there's any memory or trace of who I was."
Ventus wanted to respond to the sudden confession, but something had torn his train of thought down the middle. Where he remembered what he had to do, something was pulling him in a different direction. It made him see another side to their dilemma. So he kept his thoughts to himself as he simply laid on the ground and listened as Vanitas continued.
"Demons aren't just born into existence. We have a purpose that was bred from our previous life. The problem is, I don't remember it. I've always been out for numero uno. Me, myself and I. Yet as soon as I broke my way out of hell, I slammed myself into a different prison," he said, a sharp bitterness to his words catching Ven's attention. Vanitas curled his fingers into his palm as he looked back down at the blonde, the ghost of a smirk reaching his face. "At least the company is better. Hell's minions are rather boring, if you ask me."
Ventus took the hand extended down to him, letting the demon pull him to his feet. But as soon as he felt the light smack to his rear, heat flared into his face and he spun around with a lifted fist. Just like it had started before, Vanitas caught his wrist and chuckled.
"Ready for round two, are we? Didn't think you were so eager!"
"The hell! Keep your hands to yourself!" Ventus bit out between clenched teeth.
"What's wrong, Ven? It's not like demons see genders. That's a human thing. Female or male, it's just another body to us. If you'd just let me in, you would be able to see that."
Perhaps he had been wrong about the demon. Whatever he had seen in that small moment had to have been a fluke, a play on words to break his defenses down, just as he was trying to do to Vanitas. Ventus couldn't help but feel that, whatever the demon had planned, he had found himself pulled into it. And he had basically stood in front of him with a target painted on his chest.
"Not a chance in hell," he responded before he pulled his wrist from the demon's grip and whirled away. As Ven left him behind and headed along the path to exit the forest, Vanitas grinned at his back.
"Guess it's a good thing we aren't in hell, then."
The Next Evening
Sora stared into the mirror beside his closet. He had chosen a plain black tee and fitted jeans, but he knew they would change as soon as he put the bandana in place. Namine had delivered it only a few hours ago, happy has a peach and excited to see the results at the masquerade.
"I worked really hard on this costume. You'll probably be one of the hottest guys at the party, so make the most of it!"
With a sigh, he wrapped the bandana around his head. The effect wasn't instantaneous. However, as soon as he saw the familiar fabrics shift and knit together to form a completely different outfit - complete with a hat - he stared in amazement.
The first thing to change was his shoes. They had completely reformed into leather boots, reaching up to his shins. Tucked into those were a pair of worn leather pants that rested comfortably at his waist without a belt. His shirt transformed into a silken white, long-sleeved dress shirt, complete with an equally soft red sleeveless vest. A brown leather belt comfortably hugged his torso and rested at the top of his hips. Aside from the tricorn hat, Sora also had an open, long leather jacket that ended at his shins and had faux fur lined along the neck and lapels to finalize the outfit. Everything had a cracked, faded and worn texture, making it seem more authentic.
When his eyes finished taking in the extraordinary change, Sora took a step back and simply stared at himself in awe. Namine had gone beyond what he had expected with the pirate costume. As a kid, he had always imagined what it would have been like to see the ocean and be on the open sea. Now he could partially experience it with the clothes.
"Wait, what is..." Sora leaned forward in the mirror as he looked at his face. When he reached up and swiped at the dark marks on his face, they followed the trail of his fingers, smudging them further across his skin. "It's dirt.."
Way beyond his expectation.
His amazement was cut short, however, when a dark swirl of mist appeared behind him in the mirror, the same as the ones at the competition. As he scoffed to himself, Sora turned and headed for the door of his dorm. Namine had explained what they were for, and since he had opted out of the autonomy part of the masquerade, there was no use for it.
Conversations filled the hallways as the brunette made his way down the east wing and into the foyer. Dozens of people crowded the space, mingling and laughing as they held and drank cups of assorted drinks. Although they usually looked normal, the costumes that people had chosen looked straight out of a human's mythological handbook. He admired the work done by the witches as Sora made his way through the crowds.
It wasn't long before he found himself bombarded by a small group - a familiar small group. Roxas, Axel and Ventus stood before him without the guise of another face. A smile beamed on Sora's face as he realized that they had followed his denial of the usual rules.
"So you decided to join the club, huh?" he asked, clasping his hands behind his head.
"More than just us. It kind of caught wind," replied Axel. He was dressed in loose fitting plain clothes covered by a black yukata. Although Sora wasn't fluent in the styles of clothing, it spoke for itself as he noted the nine tails moving fluidly behind the redhead. It had to have been a modern look for his theme.
"Not everyone, though. Some are still in fear of bullying or threats," added Roxas.
"Can you blame them? This place may help people, but they don't exactly put out too many fires between people. Just enough to keep everyone from killing each other." Ventus seemed unperturbed by the festivities despite his choice of costume.
"What are you guys even supposed to be?" Sora inquired, stumped at the sight of them.
Whereas Roxas had no outstanding features among the relaxed gray formal wear he wore to hint at his choice, the older twin had dressed in a short-sleeved black turtleneck, gray denim jeans and knee length boots - all of which seemed insanely tight fitting on his body. The only thing that popped out at Sora about Ven was the tail that curled around the front of his legs as he had talked.
"Vampire!" Roxas exclaimed excitedly, flashing his teeth in a smile to show the elongated fangs that made the brunette raise an eyebrow. "And Ven is a Terran Genome. He kind of went outside the box this year."
"What's a...Terran Genome?"
"Originally, a man-made creation to act as weapons of destruction. There was a screw up with the artificial intelligence injection, like a software installation. Instead of using the basic robotic warfare gene, this one scientist had used a gene that gave them more humane characteristics. Before the humans could realize that mistake, that they were more cognizant than acts of violence, they simply disappeared. They're still stumped on what happened to the genomes, but they never picked up the project again," Ventus supplied easily. "In reality, the genomes made their home in a place they call Terra. We see them sometimes, but they don't like to leave their home in fear that people will use them to their own ends."
The flow of information had Sora stunned. He knew Ventus was smart, but he hadn't expected a miniature history lesson on a race he had never heard before.
"Interesting. I wonder what they're like..."
"Heeey!"
All four boys turned at the sound of a female voice, only to see the trio of witches ruthlessly pushing their way through people to reach them. They wore matching outfits of black halter tops, plaid skirts, black knee length socks and brown ankle boots. Kairi had a pink skirt, Xion a dark purple and Namine had chosen white. Tufted ears and slim feline tails accentuated their costumes.
"You're that cat race... the Miqo'te!" exclaimed Sora.
"Correct. It seems like someone is paying attention to Elder Leon's studies," giggled Kairi.
"Seems like you guys are enjoying yourselves already," said Namine, eye each of the four of them. "I've got some news! But before that, has anything new happened? Any hallucinations or..." Ventus stepped forward, shooting a look toward the blonde girl.
"I think, for one more night, we can forget all of that stuff. Let's talk about it tomorrow," the older twin interrupted as he placed his hands on his hips.
With the topic easily forgotten, they fell into a light banter. As the evening progressed, they had their share of snacks, drinks and jokes. Sora even found himself dancing with the others at times, completely forgetting about everything and anything that threatened their way of living. When the singing had started at the front of the foyer, the girls had excitedly informed them that the singer was a water nymph named Demyx. He was easily the most talented singer and musician of the Academy and willingly performed at any event that he was requested at.
It wasn't until night had fallen that a thought occurred to the brunette. Where was Riku? During the hours they spent together, he hadn't caught a single glance of the shifter anywhere. His mind relapsed back the conversation with Namine, where she had claimed he was more social. If that was the case, then where was he?
"Has anyone seen Riku yet?" he blurted aloud.
"I'm pretty sure I saw him hiding out near the food table. He was kind of in the shadows, behind everyone. I don't think he likes parties!" Xion was the one who had responded, eyeing him closely as she spoke. It was obvious the poor girl was desperate for some sort of attention.
"Isn't that him?" shouted Roxas over the music, pointing somewhere to their right. Sora searched through the throng of people, but being as short as he was, it wasn't easy. A weight descended on his shoulder, pushing him further down for a moment.
"The hell? He's dressed in a suit like my brother used to wear back when he was some sort of bodyguard. How does he even know about that?!" It was Axel, which the hand the brunette had shoved off belonged to.
"Does it matter? I'm gonna go get him over here. I'll be right back, I mean it this time," said Sora, his words quick and rushed as he moved away from the group.
"Good luck..." muttered Ventus as the brunette disappeared into the crowd.
